Tales of Madness
by Owl of the Pages
Summary: Professor Franken Stein is not the only one in the world who suffers from madness. This is a collection of short stories of those who have fallen victim to their insane urges after the revival of the kishin. Madness resides in every human soul. Watch it spread to the far corners of the Earth in these stories and see what carnage it leaves in its wake.


_**Tales of Madness**_

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 **Professor Franken Stein is not the only one in the world who suffers from madness. This is a collection of short stories of those who have fallen victim to their insane urges after the revival of the kishin. Madness resides in every human soul. Watch it spread to the far corners of the Earth in these stories and see what carnage it leaves in its wake.**

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 **"Good Doctor Joe"**

It was a dull and dreary day at the First Baldwin Hospital. Rain pounded on the window panes and doctors and staff trudged in through the automatic doors sopping wet and wishing they had had the foresight to grab a heavier raincoat before they left to come work what was now sure to be a long and miserable shift. Things had been rather slow and quiet in the ER all morning and people were just sitting around wishing someone would turn the heat up a few degrees to ward off the cold seeping in from the front entrance.

"Good morning, Harley," a tall man sighed deeply as he slung his dripping jacket over his arm and tried in vain not to leave too big of a puddle on the floor. He had thinning black hair that was partial plastered to her forehead due to the rain, broad shoulders, and deep purple circles rimming the bottom of his green eyes. A nametag on his chest proclaimed him to be "Dr. Joseph Brown".

"Morning, Joe," Harley chippered out. The small blonde nurse was smacking on a piece of bubble gum and her bright face made it painfully apparent she was the only morning person present in the ER at that time. "What's with the tired face? You look like someone just dragged you out of the ground, let alone bed. Didn't get any sleep last night?" she inquired, noting the purple splotches imprinted under the doctor's eyes.

Joe shuttered and tried his best to convince himself it was from the rain water that had seeped into his shoes. He had not gotten but about two hours of sleep the night before. All night he had been plagued by horrible dreams. Even now the gruesome scenes painted with blood and accompanied by a maniacal laughter was eating away at the corners of his thoughts….

"Joe? Joe, did you hear me? I asked if you got any sleep last night. Are you okay?" Harley piped up, bringing the doctor back to reality.

"Oh, yes! Sorry, Harley. I guess I just had a restless night. You know how it happens from time to time," Joe responded and gave her a shaky chuckle. Not wanting to stand around and be questioned any longer, he gave his co-worker a nod and hurried off to the back to stow away his coat. Maybe a little work would serve to clear his head.

Just as he was walking back towards his office, a commotion sounded from the ambulance entrance. Joe rushed back to see what was happening. There had been a car accident on one of the main roads in town and they were just bringing in the victim now, a forty year old male with sever lacerations to his left arm and the left side of his neck.

The hospital staff work diligently to save the man who was losing untold amounts of blood by the second. Like a well-tuned machine they moved around grabbing medical supplies and hooking their patient up to devices the beeped and buzzed with the man's vital sign. The scene had a sense or ordered chaos and Joe easily found himself slipping in among the hurrying bodies and going to work. It was just another day at the ER after all. This insanity would serve to clear his head.

Orders were given out and the group of hospital staff organized themselves to allow Joe to take his position at the man's gushing neck. An artery had clearly been severed and Joe's shoes that had been so cold from the freezing rain only a moment ago were now stomping in a pool of warm, sticky blood. With steady hands, Joe inspected the wound and pulled out the materials needed to close it shut. He took a deep breath and let the rank smell settle in the back of his throat. He had always had a special ability to remain calm in these moments. Some people called it remarkable, others claimed it eerie. Whatever you wished to call it, it was at these moment that Joe felt perfectly at ease with himself. Carefully, he stitched up the wound, being mindful of the delicate parts of the neck. One stitch after the other until suddenly his hands froze...

 _…Shining steel peeked out from the pool of glistening red and it was one of the most beautiful sights he had ever laid his eyes on. A heart there. A lung there. Over at the corner sat the liver. All of the human organs lined up neatly together with the hallowed out carcass of his patient at his feet…_

Joe shook himself and his eyes once again focused on the cut across the man's throat he had been trying to mend. He was seeing flashes of his nightmares again. The ones from the night before that kept him up trembling at night, but not with fear but with insane laughter that he fought hard to choke back now. He did not understand it. Was he going mad? Now was not the time to wonder that. He had a life to safe. Another few stitches here and there and this poor man was in the clear…

 _…White bone like porcelain wrapped tightly around pink muscle still twitching in agony. The human body was such a marvelous thing and now it stood wide open in front of him with sights of muscles, tendons, and veins that a medical illustration could never dream to imitate. His patience's glazed over and bloodshot eyes sent shivers down his spine and forced giggles up his throat…_

Joe could not stop the laugh that erupted from his chest. He cut it off quickly, but not quickly enough to escape the notice of those around him. He hardly noticed their stares. His eyes trained on the deep gauge as his hands worked away. In the back of his mind he could feel it, his madness surging. It had been dormant for so long, but now that it was stronger there was nothing, not even the good doctor's sense of morals and duty, that could keep it for coming out to play. The kishin had been revived and with it the madness that resides in the depths of every human soul will rise and reign supreme.

Poor Dr. Joe did not have a clue what came over him when his eyes dimmed, as glazed over and bloodshot as the corpse's in his dream. The sutures fell from his hands and before anyone could think to stop him, he jabbed his fingers deep into the cut. Blood burst out and covered his face. It burned his eyes and stained his lips with its coppery taste, but nothing could stop him. The madness had broken loose and all it wanted was for Joe to tear deeper and deeper into the car crash victim's throat until he found bone.

Strong hands pawed at Joe's arms, but he threw them off. Laughter rang loud in the sterile air as he lost himself in the thrill of the tight neck muscle resisting against his gloves. More and more of the hospital staff tried desperately to pry Joe off the man, but in the throes of madness it was like fighting a blood thirsty animal. As a last resort, one of the nurses grabbed a syringe filled with a strong sedative and plunged it into Joe's arm. Joe swatted the nurse away like an insect and went back to his frenzied work, but even the madness could not fight back against the powerful drug. His eyelids drooped and with one last giggle he slumped forward onto the chest of the now mangled and long dead victim.


End file.
